FUTURE ZONE

AT MIT, LOW-TECH INNOVATIONS WITH A HIGH IMPACT

The school's basement D-Lab exports simple solutions to the developing world. known as D-Lab it is far from cutting-edge. There are no next-gen computers, no vials of polysyllabic chemicals, no fancy equipment. The space is decidedly low-tech - and that's the point. D-Lab students pinpoint practical problems in the developing countries and then brainstorm and build solutions. Because the people they are trying to help are below the poverty line, the class's inventions must be simple, effective, and most important, inexpensive.

http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0508/p16s01-stgn.html

QUICKIES: INTELLIGENT STICKY NOTES

In a project that combines artificial intelligence, RFID, and ink recognition technologies, scientists in the MIT Ambient Intelligence Group have developed "intelligent stickies." Notes written on them can be managed by a PC that will be able to remind users of any information stored on the small paper notes at the appropriate time, via a variety of digital devices.

http://www.tfot.info/news/1168/quickies-intelligent-sticky-notes.html

HOMELAND SECURITY ZONE

THE INTERNET ARCHIVE BEATS BACK FBI'S DEMAND FOR SUBSCRIBER DATA

The FBI has agreed to drop its demand that a San Francisco-based Internet library turn over subscriber information, according to court documents unsealed Monday. As part of a settlement, the FBI also agreed that its previously secret efforts could be publicized. Kurt Opsahl, who helped represent the Internet Archive -- whose Wayback Machine page allows viewers to see old versions of millions of Web pages -- said he believes the victory is only the fourth successful challenge to a national security letter.

http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202421212345

http://origin.mercurynews.com/news/ci_9182084

CHERTOFF, LEAVITT ADMIT "DEFICIENCIES" IN HOSPITALS' ABILITIES

Bush administration Cabinet members Wednesday acknowledged gaps in the capability of U.S. hospitals to deal with a mass-casualty terrorist attack or other disaster, but they said a congressional effort to block pending Medicaid cuts will not fix the problem.

Leavitt and Chertoff spoke two days after the committee's chairman, Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.), released a survey showing that hospitals in seven major U.S. cities would be overwhelmed in case of a Madrid-scale attack. In that incident, 191 people were killed and as many as 270 patients were sent to a single hospital within hours.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/07/AR2008050703617.html

NATURAL DISASTER ZONE

MYANMAR CYCLONE

Excellent article detailing the relief problem and political insanity of the governing Junta.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=at7.lG3VF3Ow&refer=home

CYBERZONE

DELAYING DATA COULD CUT WEB NETWORKS' CARBON FOOTPRINT

Researchers at University of California in Berkeley and Intel Research have worked out how to create energy savings of around 50 percent, by delaying data flowing into a network by just a few milliseconds.

That is long enough to smooth out bursts and lulls in the data flow, and allows network hardware run at a consistently lower speed. Alternatively, information can be grouped into fewer, larger bursts to let the hardware sleep between chunks.

http://technology.newscientist.com/article/dn13831-delaying-data-could-cut-nets-carbon-footprint.html

PURDUE BUILDS OWN SUPERCOMPUTER IN ONE MORNING

Technicians at Purdue University wanted to assemble their own supercomputer, and they had some high expectations. Apparently, they could have set them even higher.

The technical team set out yesterday to build a supercomputer made up of 812 Dell servers in a single day. Instead, they had it up and running by lunchtime.

"The assembly was finished much faster than we expected, and by noon we were doing science," said Gerry McCartney, Purdue's vice president for information technology and CIO, in a written statement. "The staff was enthusiastic, the weather was great, and there were no problems installing the hardware or software. There is no cloud to accompany this silver lining."

http://cwflyris.computerworld.com/t/3219110/1176609/112569/2/

COMCAST CONSIDERS BROADBAND-DOWN

Comcast, with 14.1 million Internet subscribers, is weighing a plan that would set a limit for monthly online downloads and charging those who go beyond that amount, the company confirmed Wednesday. One plan being bandied about would set the limit at 250 gigabytes per month, which is enough to download about 250 standard-definition movies or 6,000 songs.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24509832/

WORD DOCUMENTS GET AUDIO CONVERSION

Microsoft has released a software add-in to help those who have difficulty reading printed documents to turn Word documents into audio files .

http://cwflyris.computerworld.com/t/3219494/121438482/112634/0/

SOFTWARE ALLOWS ISPs & P2P USERS TO GET ALONG WITHOUT COZINESS

Engineeers have discovered a way for peer-to-peer (P2P) users to efficiently identify nearby P2P clients in order to reduce costly cross-network traffic without sacrificing performance for the user

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080502154248.htm

DIY IDENTITY-THEFT PROTECTION: A 12-STEP PROGRAM

http://cwflyris.computerworld.com/t/3218538/255221/112528/2/

BLINKX LAUNCHES VIDEO SEARCH PLATFORM

Blinkx has decided to package and sell parts of the technology it has developed over time for its video search engine, in an attempt to capitalize on the rapidly increasing amount of online video.

http://cwflyris.computerworld.com/t/3217289/121438482/112433

ENERGY ZONE

HARNESSING SUNLIGHT ON THE CHEAP AND ASSEMBLE IT YOURSELF

MIT students are developing a prototype for a low-cost concentrating solar power system they think could revolutionize the field.

It's a 12-foot-square mirrored dish capable of concentrating sunlight by a factor of 1,000, built from simple, inexpensive industrial materials selected for price, durability and ease of assembly rather than for optimum performance.

They believe that in mass production, the dishes can be competitive in cost with other energy sources and could produce heat for space heating and electric power at the same time.

http://physorg.com/news129389932.html

ENVIRONMENT ZONE

RACHEL CARSON REDUX: "SILENT SPRING" NOW A SILENT WARMING

Decades after most countries stopped using the insecticide DDT, frozen stores of the chemical are now dripping out of melting Antarctic glaciers - and into penguins.

http://email.newscientist.com/cgi-bin1/DM/y/eBVeX0MXqRm0mli0E1OB0Ek

RED TIDE KILLER: BACTERIA GANG UP ON ALGAE, QUASHING RED TIDE BLOOMS

Researchers at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego have identified a potential "red tide killer." Red tides and related phenomena in which microscopic algae accumulate rapidly in dense concentrations have been on the rise in recent years, causing hundreds of millions of dollars in worldwide losses to fisheries and beach tourism activities. Despite their wide-ranging impacts, such phenomena, more broadly referred to as "harmful algal blooms," remain unpredictable in not only where they appear, but how long they persist.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080501125429.htm

WAKAME WASTE: COMPOSTING POLLUTED SEAWEED

Bacteria that feed on seaweed could help in the disposal of pollutants in the world's oceans, according to a new study. Researchers explain that as marine pollution is on the increase novel approaches to removing toxic contaminants is becoming an increasingly pressing issue.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080501110008.htm

ASIA PACIFIC ZONE

JAPAN EYES ADDING COPYRIGHT FEE TO IPOD PRICE

Japan's Cultural Affairs Agency has proposed adding a fee to the price of Apple iPods and other digital music and video devices to partially compensate rights holders for revenues lost to piracy.

http://cwflyris.computerworld.com/t/3221465/121438482/112916/0/

ALIBABA SHOWS THE FUTURE OF CHINA 2.0

These are heady days for Chinese Internet companies, which are emerging from assembly-plant anonymity to fashion their own distinct identities. Just this winter China passed the U.S. as the country with the most people online -- 220 million. Though there are still plenty of impediments that inhibit e-commerce in China, Chinese Internet companies are poised for even better days ahead. And the Alibaba Group -- the parent of Alibaba.com -- is arguably China's most impressive Internet outfit.

http://www.law.com/jsp/ihc/PubArticleIHC.jsp?id=1202421206511

SATELLITE CAMERA HAS NEW ZEALAND COVERED

Government agencies and local authorities have signed up for a private United States satellite service that will provide images of New Zealand clear enough to show every building, road marking and bush. - http://www.stuff.co.nz/4511439a11.html

PHILIPPINES' PLDT: SMART, TALK N, TEXT SUBSCRIBERS TOP 32 MILLION

http://www.telegeography.com/cu/article.php?article_id=22925&email=text

SINGAPORE TELECOMS WORK TOGETHER FOR NEW  1 GB BROADBAND NETWORK

Singapore Telecommunications, Singapore Press Holdings, SP Telecom and Axia NetMedia of Canada are joining forces to deliver new broadband network infrastructure in Singapore. The OpenNet consortium is looking to bring downloads speeds of 1 gigabyte per second to broadband customers.

http://www.forbes.com/markets/feeds/afx/2008/05/05/afx4968285.html

WIRELESS ZONE

CLEARWIRE, SPRINT NEXTEL FORM $14.55 BILLION WIRELESS COMPANY

Clearwire and Sprint Nextel said Wednesday they will combine their wireless broadband units to create a $14.55 billion communications company. The new company, which will...

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/n/a/2008/05/07/financial/f033152D51.DTL

http://www.wirelessweek.com/Sprint-Clearwire-WiMAX0-Partnership.aspx

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/06/AR2008050602855.html?wpisrc=newsletter&wpisrc=newsletter

FREE WIFI, BUT NOT FOR ALL

The battle between free and paid wireless Internet access is starting to look like a draw. Or more accurately, a third variation is winning - a combination of the two.

The Omni Berkshire Place on East 52nd Street in Manhattan offers high-speed Internet access in the lobby.

Travelers want to log on everywhere at no charge, while hotels, airports and coffee shops are looking for a way to pay for their Wi-Fi networks as visitors increasingly use greater amounts of bandwidth.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/06/technology/06wifi.html

FREE SATELLITE TV SERVICE BEGINS

A free satellite television and radio service backed by the BBC and ITV launches across the UK.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/-/1/hi/entertainment/7384928.stm

SITE CITES

LAUGH YOUR WAY TO WELLNESS WITH YOGA TREND

  "Ho ho, ha ha ha," students in a fitness class at the University of Michigan Health System chant repeatedly while clapping their hands and walking around the room. They're just getting warmed up; in the next half-hour, they will stretch their muscles and work on breathing exercises. They'll also laugh for most of the 30 minutes, from self-conscious giggles to uninhibited belly laughs. All in the name of fitness.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080505225405.htm

THE BIGOT IN YOUR BRAIN

Deep within our subconscious, all of us harbor biases that we consciously abhor. And the worst part is: we act on them.

http://cl.exct.net/?ju=fe2715787663057d711379&ls=fdfb15737467027b72147874&m=ff3310707762&l=fef61c7471640d&s=fe2615717c670174701272&jb=ffcf14&t=

--

MARTY PLOTNICK

CREATIVE RESOURCES, INC.

1-808-533.1715   VOICE  24/7

1-808-255.1715   CELL

martycri@clearwire.net